Version 2.0 of popular JavaScript framework will also boost asynchronous dependency injection

InfoWorld|Oct 24, 2013

Although no timetable has been set for its release, an upgrade to the popular, Google-maintained AngularJS JavaScript framework promises modularity, coexistence with other frameworks, and improved dependency injection. But older browsers, including Microsoft's Internet Explorer 8, will no longer be supported.

AngularJS 2.0 will include capabilities from the ECMAScript 6 JavaScript specification, including an improved syntax for classes, modular loading system for code, and annotations for declaratively describing the purpose of a class. "It just makes the programming easier," said Google's Misko Hevery, the founder of AngularJS.

Also, asynchronous dependency injection will allow applications to be broken up into smaller modules. This method allows for the removal of hard-coded dependencies, which instead can be changed at run time or compile time.

Another goal in AngularJS 2.0 is enabling developers to mix and match technologies from multiple development frameworks. "We really would love to get to a situation where, on a single Web page, you could have multiple frameworks actually cooperating together. In that situation, everyone wins," Hevery said. Developers, for example, could use both AngularJS and Backbone.js in the same project.

But AngularJS 2.0 will drop support for limited-capability, older browsers. Microsoft's IE8 is likely to be one of the browsers not supported. Hevery has not determined the final list of browsers to be left behind, but said those not supporting polyfills will be abandoned.

AngularJS has many fans because it converts static Web content into dynamic content. "It's very, very quick [for building Web applications] and it's quick prototyping as well," said Todd Motto, a developer at Appsbroker.